unrevoked3 is a tool to flash a custom recovery image to your Android phone. A custom recovery image allows you to perform advanced tasks on the system partition, such as flashing custom ROMs and taking a full backup of your phone (a “nandroid” backup). We recommend installing the custom recovery image for all users who want rooted phones.

We have noticed that the core mechanisms behind unrevoked3 may apply to other rooted current-generation HTC phones running Android 2.1. At this time, the tool does not support other phones; if you have an unsupported phone of that description, please get in contact with us.

Does unrevoked3 give me root?Yes. It previously did not; as of version 3.0, it does.

What does this do, then?
unrevoked3 will replace the stock Android recovery with a custom one, which adds many features including “nandroid” backups, the ability to use custom ROMs, and a greater amount of flexibility and customization of your Android phone.

Does this permanently unlock the NAND flash on my phone?No. The tool only unlocks the NAND flash sufficiently long to flash the custom recovery, ClockworkMod. Because of the mechanism that unrevoked2 uses, it is infeasible to leave it unlocked for longer. For this reason, the tool functions as a single unit–if any one part of it doesn't work, the NAND flash may not even be unlocked! After the reflash tool finishes running, the phone's hardware automatically relocks NAND flash.

How do I use a custom recovery image instead of the packaged ClockworkMod?
You will need to choose a .img file, which is a binary file suitable for flashing. A .zip file will not work and may render your recovery partition inaccessible until you run unrevoked3 with an appropriate image.

Are any drivers required?
On Linux and OS X, the program is self-contained. For Windows users, please install the HBOOT drivers available here.

I'm running Linux and it won't detect my device!
Either run the program with root permissions, or add appropriate udev rules to the file /etc/rules.d/51-android.rules. Instructions are available at the Android Developers website.

The program hangs when “waiting for the system to settle.”
Uninstall any programs that may connect to the phone over USB and automatically sync. Specifically, we have had interference from HTC Sync and Doubletwist in the past; other programs may also cause trouble.

Will you release the source code?
At this time, we are not disclosing the vulnerability we have exploited to unlock the NAND flash.

That doesn't seem fair! Android is about open source.
In some senses, we agree; but at times, a tradeoff needs to be made. Releasing the source code for this, we believe, would compromise the greater ability to unlock devices like these in the future. Given the choice between sacrificing the liberty of running code on our handsets and the liberty of reading the code by which we unlock it, we feel that the millions of handsets are more important. It is unfortunate that we must make such a choice, and we look forward to the day in the future that no such decision need be made.

I found this software useful, and I would like to donate to the team!
Thank you for your support. At this time, the team behind unrevoked3 does not accept donations; but we highly encourage our users to donate to the Electronic Frontier Foundation. The EFF performs the important role of standing up for our digital liberties, including the liberties to reverse-engineer devices that we own. If you are able, please consider making a contribution to them so that they can continue to perform this valuable service.